It took him many days to get there, and when he saw his son sitting in
his place his anger was kindled, and his heart was stirred to take
vengeance upon him. So he went out quickly into the forest and shed
tears, and each tear became a bird. ‘Stay there till I want you,’ said
he; and he returned to the hut.
‘I saw some pretty new birds, high up in a tree yonder,’ he remarked.
And the son answered: ‘Show me the way and I will get them for dinner.’
The two went out together, and after walking for about half an hour
they old man stopped. ‘That is the tree,’ he said. And the son began
to climb it.
Now a strange thing happened. The higher the young man climbed the
higher the birds seemed to be, and when he looked down the earth below
appeared no bigger than a star. Sill he tried to go back, but he could
not, and though he could not see the birds any longer he felt as if
something were dragging him up and up.
He thought that he had been climbing that tree for days, and perhaps he
had, for suddenly a beautiful country, yellow with fields of maize,
stretched before him, and he gladly left the top of the tree and
entered it. He walked through the maize without knowing where he was
going, when he heard a sound of knocking, and saw two old blind women
crushing their food between two stones. He crept up to them on tiptoe,
and when one old woman passed her dinner to the other he held out his
hand and took it and ate if for himself.
‘How slow you are kneading that cake,’ cried the other old woman at
last.
‘Why, I have given you your dinner, and what more do you want?’ replied
the second.
‘You didn’t; at least I never got it,’ said the other.
‘I certainly thought you took it from me; but here is some more.’ And
again the young man stretched out his hand; and the two old women fell
to quarrelling afresh. But when it happened for the third time the old
women suspected some trick, and one of them exclaimed:
‘I am sure there is a man here; tell me, are you not my grandson?’
‘Yes,’ answered the young man, who wished to please her, ‘and in return
for your good dinner I will see if I cannot restore your sight; for I
was taught in the art of healing by the best medicine man in the
tribe.’ And with that he left them, and wandered about till he found
the herb which he wanted. Then he hastened back to the old women, and
begging them to boil him some water, he threw the herb in. As soon as
the pot began to sing he took off the lid, and sprinkled the eyes of
the women, and sight came back to them once more.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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